Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by TheRealBigC:

Pours a reddish-brown color. Very bubbly - nice big head even with a light pour. Smell of sour cherries. I really wish the taste was more sour than it ended up being. It was only slightly tart, with a certain Belgian character coming through. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't amazing.

More User Reviews:

Pours reddish-brown with vinous aromas all the way. Also, hints of tart cherry and vanilla, the alcohol has a presence without knowing the higher abv. I'd say the tartness in the flavor is a low-medium and comes across in a fruity way. Red wine character is in the forefront of the taste and it's lightly tannic. 9% hidden well.

Overall, it's pretty good and would work well as a digestif in the evening before getting it on. I wouldn't seek it out, but a nice move for Sam.

In a tulip glass the beer was a garnet color with a small head that disappeared quickly.It had a tart fruit and woody aroma. Sour cherry taste, oak, with a decidedly vinous finish.Dry on the palate, satisfying.My favorite of the Barrel Room Collection.

Mouthfeel: slightly sweet but very tart, light bodied, high carbonation

Drinkability: A very interesting and complex wild ale. I could have several glasses. One of the most interesting Sam Adams out there. It is worth the price. The sweetness offsets the tartness perfectly. I think I may get another bottle just to age.

Pours a dark red with some light brown/mahogany with a small off white head. Nose is a bit funky right off the bat, Light sourness and a bit of an oakyness.

This is certainly funky, but after having some of Russian Rivers sours (Temptation, Consecration, etc) this seems a bit tame/mellow. Still good and a nice intro to the style, this certainly makes it more drinkable. Mouthfeel is crisp and smooth, good for the style.

Picked this one up at Total Beverage on a recent trip to Denver. Had a small sample of this at the BBF but couldn't really remember the flavor profile and thought I'd give it another try.

Appearance- Pours a translucent medium copper brown with a surprising amount of carbonation initially. I get about two fingers of fizzy tan head with some carbonation beading up through the body of the beer. However, it dies back fairly quickly to a nearly nonexistent ring around the edge of the beer. No lacing whatsoever and ultimately ends up looking pretty decent for the style.

Smell- Very vinous smelling. Lots of oak as well. To add to the list of surprises, also smells much more tart than I was expecting out of Sam Adams. A sharp lactic bite that really comes across on the nose and smells of tart cherries and a bit of dark fruit. Fairly complex and pleasing nose.

Taste- Yet another surprise. The tartness is much much more muted than in the nose, and only comes across slightly and late in the finish. The vinous notes from the nose are very prominent, and it reminds me a bit of a muted version of the regular Rodenbach in that regard. An interesting infusion of oak mixes in with the wine-like flavors and makes it fairly complex. However, I was disappointed a bit not only by the lack of tartness, but by a sweetness which actually creeps into the beer for me as I finish my pint.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability- Mouthfeel is spot on for the style, with even a touch extra carbonation initially. However, too sweet and not enough tartness for the style to make me really want to drink a lot of this.

Overall, a solid effort for Sam Adams on an adventurous style. Worth a shot but falls short of greatness.

Perfect for those interested in dipping their toes into the world of sour beers rather than diving in headfirst. There's a bit of sour cherry tartness, but it's restrained. Not a whole lot of depth to it, but what it does, it does fairly well. Malt isn't very pronounced, hops aren't a factor. No hot alcohol taste, which is good for a 9% ABV brew. A well done effort by Sam Adams.

Pouring the medium brown, somewhat hazy, with bright ruby highlights that comes from the easier versions of this particular style, this beer certainly looks up to snuff. The head is slightly tinted and makes it to a strong pillow almost precisely one finger tall. It develops some density, sitting heavily and falling slowly while it deposits patchy lace on the walls of the glass.The aroma has a good complexity to it, and the sourness is put forward but with lots of different things going on underneath. There's a little bit of funk, but not as much as I might expect. There's lots of cherry, plenty of tart (think Michigan) as well as black cherry skins with a sweeter and almost sharp aspect. It's definitely got the apple cider vinegar note to it that I hope for. Under all that, there's a sort of earthiness to the malts that go pretty dry.On the palate, there's a little more aggressive dryness as the oaky notes come out up front with the sourness and the sharp bite. Ultimately, a sort of candied sweetness blends with the sourness to take the edge off, also playing it safe, so to speak. Cherry is as strong in the flavor as the aroma. Ultimately, with the dryness and the jammy nature, it has a lot of red wine character, something with a heavier body and maybe an "old vine" character.The body is medium, and I'm surprised that the mouthfeel doesn't dry as quickly as I might expect. It's semi-dry most of the way before some wood and acidity throw that dryness into the finish. It has a bit of sharpness to it, but keeps in check.

T: Fairly balanced approach to a wild ale. Like the nose, more malt than sourness. Still has a nice little kick to it. Can pull though an oakiness too, mellows the malts. Sour tastes build up in your mouth as you drink.

M: Crisp, highly carbonated. Tart and puckering feel. Leaves a nice lingering taste in your mouth making you want another sip. Booze is real well hidden.

Overall a decent attempt by Sam Adams that I must give them credit for. It's great to see such a large brewery taking the time to make a wild.

A: Pours a hazy reddish color with a small off-white head with decent retention, leaving a small cap on top. Moderate lacing.

S: A fruity aroma, some cherry and raspberry, slightly acetic, but sweet as well. It is slightly astringent at the end.

T: More of the same in terms of the fruit, cherry and raspberry, but there they are somewhat weak, and the flavor is even sweeter than expected. There is something about it that I wasn't really a fan of, but can't quite figure out why.

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

O: It was ok, found it for $8 I think (which I thought was a mistake), so I didn't really have high hopes for it.

A hazy amber with dark red hues, the head forms fast and fizzy but falls just as quick with a relaxed, aged look.

the nose has wild, tart fruitiness, wild raspberries in the wild yeast. Tangy, slightly musty with sweet red fruits in the malt, wild cherries and oak.

The yeast, the wild beasties is the star of the show with tart and sharp red fruits, dry cherries with a metallic edge. The yeast is pretty nice with mostly tart and sharp wild fruits. The malt comes in heavy with more sweetness from the oak aging. The malt makes it feel full, but damn that super-dry, champagne-like finish! It nearly evaporates in your mouth after a solid flow of malty smoothness. a sharp, dry bite hits you first, smooths out and then it's dry and gone!

i like the crazy, wild and sharp flavor's from the wild yeast addition but there's little else going on here which keeps the complexity down. a winner in the wild ale category.